In the Internet of Things (IoT) model, a wide variety of objects may be equipped with embedded electronics (e.g., processor, memory, sensor, actuator, network interface, etc.) that enable these objects to collect and exchange data across a communication network, which often includes, at least in part, a wireless communication network. For example, a home's gas meter may be configured with electronics to collect and store the quantity of gas provided to the home and to later transmit that data to the gas company's central server. As another example, sensor(s) positioned in a lawn may be configured to collect and store information representing the amount of water applied to the lawn and/or information on the nutrient content of the lawn's soil. This information relating to the lawn may be wirelessly transmitted to an upstream server for evaluation and monitoring. In many cases, the embedded electronics are unconnected to an external power source and must be powered by battery.
As one measure to conserve power, low power wide area networks (LPWAN) have been implemented. In an LPWAN, the electronics embedded in objects (referred to as “end nodes” or “sensors”) transmit and receive data typically only at various intervals determined by the end node, as opposed to continuously being in a mode to transmit and receive data, which consumes power. The end nodes may communicate, via wireless radio transmission, with one or more gateways. The gateway(s) may then relay the data further upstream over a fixed backhaul network. However, situations may arise in which the end node is not within range of any gateways. For example, the aforementioned gas meter may be located at a rural location that is outside the range of any gateways. Further, the low concentration of end nodes at that rural location may make it undesirable to implement one or more gateways that cover the location.
These and other shortcomings are addressed in the present disclosure.